Ryuk woke up in the dog house with bandages covering almost all of his body. Ryuk was shocked the last thing he remembered was the mind numbing pain from getting hit by the lightning bolt he was sure he was dead. He touched his body all over to make sure he was alright and to his surprise except for a few bruises and scars he was completely fine. He remembered his dantian and tried to circulate qi to see if his dantian was destroyed and he became a cripple - luckily the qi circulated easily, but to Ryuks surprise the qi that circulated was extremely concentrated pure death qi totally different from his minute impure death qi. Ryuk was unbelievably shocked and believed that the death qi quality and concentration increased due to him being at deaths door after all the experience he felt was death in its more bare, natural and pure state.
The Xin dog house reverberated with the sound of a knock, but before Ryuk could even answered a fat figure came in. Ryuk recognized this plump man - the governor of green doe village. "Ai. The trouble you cause boy is too much for this old man. I orginally thought that it would be the three great families causing me to have migraines, but surprisingly its the dog of rhe the Xin family. Ah." The governor had large dark circles around his eyes making the already small slits called his eyes even more faint. The governor seemed exhausted as his face was covered in more sweat than normal and his normally nicely kept hair was all over the place. "Governor." Ryuk answered respectfully and pulled over a clean cloth for the governor to sit on. Ryuk had a childish expression on his broken face as he looked at the governor, but the governor merely snorted at this. "Ah. All those moons ago when you came to me with those knife marks and claimed injustice. I truly thought what a cunning fox this child is." The governor shot a sly glance at Ryuk and took out a cup and wine bottle from his robe and began drinking as he talked. "What! You knew?" Ryuk asked scared. "No shit! You think the Xin family would be so transparent! Those bastards do everything in the dark." The governor scolded the wine spilling out.
The incident that the governor was talking about was a few months ago when Ryuk had just gotten used to being a hunter. Ryuk got bullied by the son of the 2nd son of the patriarch of the Xin family. Ryuk couldnt take it anymore because it wasnt just verbal abuse it was physical and being a hunter Ryuk needed to constantly have a good physique, but the Xin family member was a condensation 2 stager. Ryuk made a plan he cut himself all over and crawled all the way to the governors office and screamed about injustice and how Ryuk was trying to be a hero, and how he hunted to make sure that none of the kids would be killed by the demonic beasts. The governor having received reports about this Xin family member took it upon himself to execute the Xin family member and no matter what he or the Xin family said the governor still executed him. The Xin family knew they couldn't do anything they wanted to do to Ryuk with the governor was watching so they deployed Xin Li to draw out Ryuks anger and demand retribution from his actions.
Since then the governor would hell Ryuk whenever he could. For example he would frequently buy pelts and the others for a price way above market price. Ryuk respected and admired the governor and the two eventually became close, but what made him really like this oversized governor was when Ryuk felt extremely bad for taking the governors money the governor responded like this "I just needed this specific pelt don't think im a good guy."
"Am I in trouble?" Ryuk asked not trying to get out or deleegate his responsibility. "For what the earlier incident or todays one?" The governor Chuckled and asked. "Don't worry i managed to get you pardoned for todays incident since it was an accident according to the the few reports i received from survivers. In fact for a common brawl you would only have received a fine, but because Xin Li brought out a enchanted scroll it became classified at a much higher degree meaning the punishment is much more severe and loose. The Xin family tried to blame you for instigating such severe measures of protection for Xin Li, but when I argued about Xin Li having an enchanted scroll and the constant bullying you faced and how the incident seemed scripted, they stopped all talks about you being punished for fighting, but they are blaming you for destroying a valuable asset - the scroll and also because technically you are the one who disrupted the qi flow of the scroll causing it to self detonate they wish to charge you, but i gave away my title for a pardon and they accepted so dont worry."
Ryuk had a miserable expression on his face he had caused trouble to one of the few people who had helped him.
"If you cant become strong, then dont. Live your life without your family always in your mind, I know they were cruel, but that cruelty is nothing in this world. You should be glad, you are free. Isnt what every man and woman searches for; freedom. Sure the wretched heavens still look down at you and chuckle, but dont mind it, sure the rich might look down at you and snarl but dont mind it, search for a path that brings you joy. Even if they laugh. Even if they call you foolish. Even if they call you a monster or a devil, do whatever it takes to live a life you can look at and be proud of. You are just a kid, you shouldnt have to fight like a dog, but that just shows how amazing you are, you are just a kid, but you can live without the heavens blessing, without a family. You're an amazing kid. So dont look back, keep running for it, your dream that is." The governor said as he hugged Ryuk and left.
Ryuk was alone and became immersed in his thoughts. Ryuk felt he was at the brink of an epiphany forming, but nothing was concrete, but Ryuk knew one thing this governor was his first master. Sure the governor wasnt strong or anything, but he gave him life advice and gave him a chance that would impact his entire life. Ryuk looked up to the sky and engrained an image of the governor into his head and screamed "Master!"